Washing machines incorporating squeeze driers



WASHING MACHINES INCORPORATING 'SQUEEZE DRIERS Filed my 7, 1954 H. G. DUNN July 2, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 2, 1957 H. G. DUNN 2,797,568

WASHING MACHINES INCORPORATING SQUEEZE DRIERS Filed Juiy '7, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WASHING MACHINES 1N CORPORATING SQUEEZE DRIERS Harold George Dunn, Greenford, England, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application July 7, 1954, Serial No. 441,829

Claims priority, application Great Britain July 10, 1953 5 Claims. (Cl. 68-21) This invention relates to clothes washing machines incorporating squeeze driers and is concerned with provid ing a compact form of such machine.

According to the present invention a combined washing machine and squeeze drier has a casing affording or containing a container for washing liquid, and a squeezing bag having means for collapsing it when charged with clothes to squeeze them, and the bag has a storage position wherein it is accommodated in the casing in a collapsed condition in a storage space too small to receive it when it is extended.

The invention may be applied to pressure-operated squeeze driers, in which case the bag will be provided with an outer flexible bag and the pressure fluid will be admitted to the space between the two bags. The invention is, however, particularly applicable to driers in which the means for collapsing the bag to squeeze the water from the clothes operate by applying suction to the interior of the bag. In this case there is no necessity for any form of container surrounding the squeeze bag.

In one form of the invention, in the working position, the squeeze bag depends from a hole in a platform to the margin of which its upper edge is secured, and is closed by an airtight lid, the platform being hinged to the machine so as to fold between the storage position and the working position. The storage space may be afforded in the side of the casing.

One specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is an elevation of a combined washing machine and squeeze drier incorporating the present invention, with the squeeze drier in the working position.

Figure 2 is a View similar to part of Figure l with the squeeze drier in the storage position, and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the machine in the working position.

In this embodiment the general arrangement of the combined washing machine and squeeze drier is similar to that set out in the present assignees copending application Ser. No. 395,221, filed on November 30, 1953, that is to say a washing machine container 10 is mounted within an outer casing 11, the container having in its rear wall a disc like impeller 12 driven through a belt 13 by a motor 14. The arrangement of the squeeze drier is also similar to the prior construction and accordingly comprises a flexible bag 15, for example of rubber, suspended by its upper margin and covered by a pivoted lid 16 effecting an airtight seal with its margin. A suction pipe 17 opens through the margin of the bag and communicates at its other end with the suction side of a pump 18, which may conveniently be of the type comprising a rotor in the form of a single start screwthread rotating and moving orbitally in a stator having a bore in the form of a two start screwthread. The pump is also driven by the motor \14.

In the prior arrangement the squeeze drier and the washing container were mounted in a rigid casing, which SI storage.

2,797,568 Patented July 2, 1957 accordingly had to be wide enough to receive both of them side-by-side with the squeeze drier in the fully tainer, and beyond the pivot 20, as shown at 21, and

their lower parts are interconnected by an end wall 22 and their upper parts by a pair of doors 23, carried by vertical hinges 24. These doors close off a compartment within which the squeeze drier may be swung down for When the drier is raised to the working position these doors are moved apart to allow it to pass and then are slightly brought together again under the platform to act as brackets to support it.

A slight ridge 25 is formed on three sides of the periphery of the upper surface of the platform which also slopes slightly towards the washing machine container. In this Way any water on the plat-form will run back into the container.

The arrangement described enables the machine to e embody a full sized drier as well as a full size washing container and yet occupy very little more storage space than the washing machine without a drier. The weight of the drier can be quite small and may generally be considerably less than that of a folding wringer such as is commonly fitted to washing machines.

it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the particular arrangement described by way of example. In particular the drier may be arranged to fold in other ways, for example to fold over the top of the washing container so as to be upside down in the storage position, a lid being placed over what is then the top of it. Again the lid and platform of the drier need not be enclosed, but may form part of the exposed Wall of the casing, when in the storage position.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A combined washing machine and squeeze drier comprising a casing housing a container for washing liquid, a squeeze bag with means for collapsing it when charged with clothes to squeeze dry them, said bag projecting beyond the casing in operative position, and means for collapsing the bag within the confines of the casing for storage of the bag when it is not in use.

2. A combined washing machine and squeeze drier as recited in claim 1 including means for applying suction to the interior of the bag to collapse the bag for squeeze drying the clothes.

3. A combined washing machine and squeeze drier as recited in claim 1 in which a storage space for the squeeze bag is provided in a side of the casing between the liquid container and a casing side wall.

4. A combined washing machine and squeeze drier as recited in claim 3 in which the squeeze bag depends from a platform hingedly mounted on the casing, said platform being foldable into the storage space for storing the bag, and a pair of hinged doors on the casing side wall closing the storage space and adapted to underlie the platform when the squeeze bag is in operative position to support the bag.

5. A combined Washing machine and squeeze drier comprising a casing having a container for Washing liquid, a squeeze bag having means for collapsing it when charged with clothes to squeeze them, said squeeze bag depending from a platform hingedly mounted on the casing, said platform extending laterally from the casing with the bag projecting beyond the casing in operative 2,797,568 3 4 position, said platform including an opening from the References Cited in the file of this patent margin of which the bag depends, a lid covering the open- UNITED STATES PATENTS ing to provide an airtight seal therefor, said platform being foldable t'o a position within the confines of the 2023215 Yanden 3, 1935 2,427,682 Rand June 7, 1949 633mg and collapsing the bag fol s r g therewlthln- 0 2,493,916 Gibson Jan 10 1950 

